Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

: When you are losing motivation that is a sign that you are tired, you need recuperation. You have said that prana is low. So for one, two or three days go into retreat. Some silence, meditation, yoga, pranayama and a liquid diet will help.
You know sometimes when we eat too much and too much of the wrong food then also you feel so tired, isn’t it? How many of you have had this experience? Because when you are not feeling good you eat more and when you eat more you feel even more tired, so it is a catch 22 cycle, right? It’s a cycle that goes on. So, little detoxification/fresh fruit or juice diet coupled with Pranayama will work magic.
When you have no motivation to do anything you feel so lazy to even do breathing exercises, that is why I would advise you to go on a diet and after 1 to 2 days this cleansing would help you.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Do you all have cell phone? How does it work? First, it is to be fully charged. But if is charged but no Sim card! So you need a sim card, and then you need to be in the range of the tower. When all three are there, the cell phone works then only. Similarly, for life to be successful three things are required: Seva, Satsang and Kripa (grace).
Know that you have abundance of grace with you, and God is your very own. Satsang is the charger and Seva is the sim card. What happens with Seva? When you do Seva, you gain blessings and those blessings add strength to your life. And then Sadhana(Practices)? What is Sadhana – Which makes you establish connection with the Self, with the Divine, that infinite power.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Spirituality just means knowing that it is oneconsciousness. One world family - this thought came from India.One side there is slum, the other side is scam. We have toremove slums. For that first we need to remove alcoholism. Nearly 60 percent ofa poor man’s income goes in alcohol.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Yes. Your yukti should be like the salt in the food - just a little bit salt in your business. If there is too much salt, it becomes like food in the salt.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Just exactly what you are doing now.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

If you want to know who I am then there is a deal you will have to make with me. The deal is that first you have to know who you are. When you find out who you are then you will know who I am and this is also what I want, that you know who you are and then you will know who I am.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

See even if the present is painful it is better to just be with it and finish it otherwise you are just sweeping it under the carpet. Living in an imaginary world and not realizing the current reality, yeah. So it is better to live it and go through it.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

If you have ego, keep it in your pocket. Don’t try to destroy it because that effort will only increase it. Be natural like a child. If it’s there, doesn’t matter. When you feel a separation or distance between yourself and others, then ego arises. We don’t have ego with our family or those who are closest with us. Similarly we don't have an ego issues with people whom we don’t know at all. It happens only with people we know a little. We develop an ego. If everybody belongs to you, or nobody belongs to you, then there is no ego.

It is important to have child-like naturalness. When we are worried about what other people are saying about us, then there is ego. Even when you are doing good, there will be some people who will find fault with it. Similarly, there will be people to praise even if the person is corrupt. So, don't worry about it. If you make a mistake, accept it. That is intelligence. In the same way, others can also make mistakes. Don’t wait for them to ask for forgiveness. You forgive and move on. A mistake happened. Drop it. Don’t keep thinking of past mistakes and chewing on it like gum. It is like churning up a pile of garbage. You must save your mind at all costs.

If you save your mind, then you can be free from desires and needs. When you can bless others, even their needs are fulfilled. That’s why people take blessings from the elders of the house. As you grow older, you become more content. But that is not the case all the time. As people grow older, they collect worries and desires. Only when you are free from worries and desires, you gain the capacity to bless. At some point, you have to say, ‘I am content’. That strength comes from spirituality.
When you realize who you are, all your needs are fulfilled. Your biggest enemy is your mind. That is why we do so many things to calm the mind. Take blessings and be happy.
Many millions have benefitted from the Sudarshan Kriya. Many, many are waiting. Take a sankalpa – ‘Let the whole world also get the joy that I have got.’

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Having a sense of belongingness doesn’t mean to flow emotionally. Use your intelligence. Do only that what you can do. What you cannot do, nobody will expect that from you also.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

He doesn't appreciate you, because he knows you can do better. If he starts appreciating you every moment, then your desire to perform better will not be there.

Knowledge Byte:Truth is that which does not change. Examine your life and identify all that changes as "not truth." With this outlook, you will find that you are surrounded by only untruth.
When you identify untruth, then you will become free from it. When you do not identify the untruth, you cannot become free from it. Your own experiences in life make you identify your own untruth.
As you mature in life, you find everything is untruth - events, situations, people, emotions, thoughts, opinions, concepts, your body - everything is untruth. It is only then that Satsang – the company of truth - happens in the real sense. A mother cannot see the child as untruth until the child becomes an adult. For a baby, sweetness is not untruth, and for a teenager, sex is not untruth.
Knowledge is untruth if it is only words. But as existence, it is truth. Love as an emotion is not truth; as existence, it is truth.